The Ancient Zoidian Killer
by The Grunty that goes Beep
Summary: After the war on Zi is over, things seam peaceful enough. But when Van and Fiona's lives are put in jeopardy they'll be thrown into a world of chaos in which there is only one out come. Chapter 5 is out, and chapter 6 will be on it's way shortly.
1. A night in the Darkness

**AN: So I'm really sorry about how long this is taking, I could make up millions of excuses but I don't think that you really want to here me complain about it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids, if I did I wouldn't be living in a cardboard box out on the interstate.**

**Chapter 1: A night in the darkness**

_The predator was pursuing its prey_

She ran through the dark forest of the night, her breathing was rough and harsh. How long she had been running she did not know, it felt as though it had been forever. Silently she hoped that who ever had been chasing her was lost. Thinking she might be at a safe distance she turned to see if any one was still after her.

It was a fatal mistake, something cold grabbed at her foot she lost contact with the round for a spit second and went sprawling in to the hard earth. She raised her head and screamed. Twisting around she looked down to see that an up rooted tree had caught her. Sobbing she pulled her skinned and twisted foot out of the trap.

_The predator was pursuing its prey_

She lay there praying that she didn't just give her self away. Tears mingled with sweat and blood as she lay there in the dirt. Slowly she urged her tired arms into a crawl. All the while thinking of the one person who had always been there to save her.

"Van"

This time though he wasn't coming.

"You don't belong here… Go back to your own time" the harsh grating voice of the man she feared most hit her ears.

There was a snap of a gun, she twisted her head enough to see the blast from the shotgun. The sharp cold bullet that pierced her heart mingled with the taste and sent of death. The girl could fell warm blood fill her mouth, the sour taste of bile and blood caught up to her. As she tried to scream and crawl away she heard the cold harsh laughter of her attacker… then there was nothing.

_The predator had caught its prey._

Fiona sat bolt upright from her nightmare. She was drenched in cold sweat. She looked around her room. 'What was...what happened.' she thought to her self. 'It. it was so...so real.' she looked at her hand which was shaking uncontrollably. She calmed down long enough to get out of bed and stager to the bathroom. Her silent reflection stared back at her, she was pale, sweat mingled with the tears that she had shed wile she slept.

Taking a cold washcloth she wiped away the tears. She was still pale and her bloodshot eyes had not improved. She sighed and walked out. Looking over at her alarm clock, she was surprised to see that it read one o'clock a.m. She inwardly groaned she knew that she would never get back to sleep so she slipped in to some sweat pants and a lose fitting tee shirt. Quietly slipping out in to the dark hall ways she let her feet take her were ever they wanted to go, and thought about the dream.

It was so real but why, questions flowed unbidden in to her mind. Such as why did the man always come, and why did he keep attacking her? Fiona thought for a moment the mad man seemed familiar to her like she had met him before. Everything about him made her feel as if she had once known him. 'Who are you?' she thought to herself. She made a few more turns and found herself in one of the open hangers.

The bright night sky illuminated the barren landscape,

She closed her eyes and thought the voice the weapon every thing was so familiar. Fiona opened her eyes and found her self on the upper hanger of the base. She looked around at the parched and barren summer landscape. It lit up wondrously against the bright full moon sky, as she sat down she surveyed the desert. The rain had been absent for quite awhile. Now the ground had dried up and cracked the trees had withed and quite a few had died. However there was still life out there. If you looked closely enough you might see a stay coyote or something like it in the distance, but tonight there was nothing. She sighted and wrapped her arms around her legs. It was peaceful at least.

With nothing to bother her. Closing her eyes she was about to drift off when she heard someone approach from behind. She turned around relieved to see that it was only Van.  
"Hey" she said, motioning him to sit next to her

"Hey" she said, motioning him to sit next to her.

He sat down stifling a yawn "Hey your self, what are you doing out here? It's the middle of the night."

"I couldn't sleep." She replied.

"Any reason why?"

"It's just a dream, It's nothing you need to worry about."

Van looked in to her eyes he could tell she was scared. A certain uneasiness lingered, she was suffering it was easy enough to tell. She hadn't slept in weeks. He knew because there rooms were right across from each other. Her getting up would often wake him. Also something was frightening her. She had made a Olympic worthy jump the other day when Irvine came up behind her and taped her on the shoulder while she had been in a half sleep.

"Fiona" he ventured "what's wrong, and don't tell me it's nothing I know you too well. You haven't been your self for the last few days and it's starting to worry me."

She was silent for awhile her eyes closed in silent concentration.  
"It's just a dream," she said.

"It must be one hell of a nightmare if you keep getting up at night."

"How do you know about that?"

"I'm in the other room Fiona, It's kind of hard to miss."

"It was a dream I had or have been having..."She said quietly Van noted that there was a hint of fear in her voice. Van didn't blame her sense most of her dreams had come true. Well at least all of the bad ones that she had.

"What is your dream about ?" He asked putting his hand on hers he could feel her hand shaking from fear. Fiona was quiet for a few minutes then answered

"I find myself all alone in a zoid graveyard. And I don't really know where or what to do so I just run until I find myself in a forest. Then when I reach the forest a man comes out of nowhere and tells me that I don't belong hear. That I belong in the past... Then he shoots me strait through the heart..."

"Fiona, maybe you should take protective precautions." he murmured, pulling her close and rubbing her back, hoping to comfort her. "Maybe you should stop working for a few days and go see someone about your dreams"

"Like that would do any good, they would probably think I'm loony, and throw me into a asylum. "

Fiona I'm just suggesting that you take some more precautions, maybe spending a few days in a Asylum would help you." He joked, trying to lift the mood.

"Like what? Locking myself away so I don't have any contact with anyone? You know I can't do that! I have so much to do, and Dr. D says were on a verge of a break through!"

"No, Fiona! It's not like that! I just don't want you hurt! I care about you so much, and-"

"No Van! I'm going to live my life as if nothing has happened. I will not have a guard following around every second!" they're voices were slowly rising and lights were coming on in the building behind them.

"Hey! You out there! We're trying to sleep!" the irritated voice of they're friend, Irvine, doused they're tempers like a bucket of cold water.

"Look, Van," she laid her hand on his shoulder, and a small shock went through his veins, " I'm sorry I yelled at you, but I don't want the others to worry. I shouldn't have told you." the ground appeared to be quite interesting, for she seemed unable to tear her gaze from it.

"No, Fiona, I'm glad you told me. You can trust me with anything, truly." He pulled her close once again and kissed her forehead, realizing then he wanted more. " I want you to be happy. Here let me walk you to your room."

Fiona felt undeniably shy after Van kissed her forehead, and nodded in silent agreement.

"So what's this break through you were talking about earlier?" Van whispered, hoping to smooth out the remnants of their quarrel.

"_Almost_ break through. Well he thinks we've found another clue to the ancient zoidians in a ruins just west of here!" She said excitedly "It may be a old city but for now we aren't to sure."

There was a loud snap, as if someone had readied a gun, Van turned around; it looked as if there was nothing there. The hanger seemed as empty as ever, still he didn't like it. "Fiona, stay here." He whispered. Edging forward he could make out a dark silhouette. "Hello?" he risked talking. "What do you want?"

A harsh rasping voice answered him "The girl… give me the girl." Another crack of the gun. The voice gave him an eerie feeling, backing away he stood in front of Fiona trying to shield her.

"Who are you and what do you want?" He was scared but he didn't want to sound like it. He knew if he wasn't careful he could end up losing her. A metallic gleam shone in the dark.

"I've, finally found my prey… and I've come to kill it." The voice rasped again.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that…" Van muttered, looking for any chance to escape. "Fiona has some very important business to attend to and since I'm her protector…"

"Give me the girl now!" the voice was harsh and commanding. "I've come here to kill and that's what I plan on doing."

"Fiona" Van whispered, "Get out of here, run for it." He slowly reached for a knife that he always carried for protection. Fiona could only stand and watch though as the perpetrator lifted his gun. Van gritted his teeth in a snarl and leapt at the man. The gun went off, echoing in a great booming voice down the hallways. Van fell back dropping his knife he grasped his hand, which was spurting large amounts of blood on the floor. He lay on the cold floor, now wet with his blood. The man seamed to smile underneath the hood.

"I told you to listen however something appears to be wrong with your hearing… or maybe it's your thick skull… Lets find out shall we?" The rifle but came crashing down into Vans head. The sound was like a hammer smashing into a slab of meat. Van went down under the first blow; the man continued his onslaught though. Bits of bone, blood and hair stuck to the rifle butt. Van finally crashed to the floor unable to rise. His head resembled a bloody pulp. "Foolish boy…" Turning on Fiona, he lifted the gun. "Well now, its just you and me, isn't this exciting." He muttered, "The last Ancient against the last Slayer. Once your dead, my quest shall be complete and the slayers shall rule once more. So zoidian are you ready to die now?" He hissed. Fiona couldn't respond though she was to scared to even move. "Well, well zoidians cat got your tough?" The man reloaded his gun and raised it.

"To Bad..." Fiona eyes widened and her heart beet even faster 'Van'.

"Now DIE!" The gun blasted through the still night air and also through Fiona's heart.

Thunder Clashed through the sky. And rain poured from the sky drenching and in some places flooding the landscape. I was the sound of crashing thunder that woke Moonbay up the next morning. Uttering long strings of curses she rolled out of bed crashing onto the floor. She looked at the clock it was four o'clock. Pulling herself up she decided to take a shower and see if Fiona was up.

Upon reaching Fiona's room she noted that the door was unlocked and upon further inspection that it was also empty. "Fiona?...Hey Fiona! Are you there?" She called.

"Oi, Moonbay do you mind keeping it down. Some of us are still trying to sleep." Irvine poked his bedridden head out of the door. Sleepless eyes masked his face.

"Oh sorry Irvine..." She apologized quickly, I didn't mean to wake you up.

"Don't worry I have been up all night any way." He muttered scratching his head, and leaving his room. Moonbay noticed that he was already dressed for the day. "Fiona and Van were having a argument last night at midnight... then some equipment fell over or something and it kept me up all night."

"Really what were they arguing about?"

"Don't know, don't care ."

"Oh come on you know if Van and Fiona had an argument it could be really bad. Besides they love each other if they get in a fight now well who knows what could happen..."

"Moonbay… please do me a favor, and shut that big mouth of yours. Besides they're are fine now relax...okay"

"okay…"

"Now as I remember you were going to help me fix up the saix today."

"Maybe, but that depends, first off it's five o'clock, and I haven't had my coffee fix. So you know what that means."

"yeah, yeah… you and that stupid coffee fix of yours, sometimes I think you worse than Fiona and her salt addiction." Irvine grinned.

"Well than you can just forget it." She said and turned as if to go back to her room.

"Fine I'll get you some coffee, as long as you stay and help with the saix."

"Sounds like a plan then, I'll meet you in the hanger." She said running off down the hallways.

'I swear I will never under stand her.' Irvine thought as he walked off to the mess hall. The halls were quiet this morning, and almost all of them were empty, Irvine shivered as the halls were freezing due to the temperature and the rain. 'Someone must have left a hanger door open.' He thought absent-mindedly. Entering the kitchen he fumbled around for some mugs and set one of the large urns on the burner.

Moonbay also found the hallways to be irritatingly silent. Shivering slightly she picked up her pace, hopefully Irvine would be back soon. As she waked through the maze of halls a eerie feeling crept over her. At first she thought that she might be imagining things. However the sensation kept on telling her to move on, trying to shake the feeling she crept onward. Almost dreading or fearing what she might run in to at the next turn.

She didn't have much to fear except for when she opened the hanger doors.

Irvine was happy, finally today he could get his zoid fixed, the front right leg of his siax made it impossible to use, rendering him to use slower and older model zoids none of witch he was to thrilled about. About half way down the main hanger hall he heard Moonbay scream. Normally he might have thought that she saw a spider, one of the large ones that sometimes crept into the joints of the zoids. This scream was different though, this one was of pure terror. Dropping the to mugs he dashed off, letting the remnants of the mugs smash onto the ground.

Upon reaching the hanger he saw what had caused her so much distress. Van and Fiona were hung side by side pined to the wall with what looked like iron hooks. "my god…" he whispered, both of them looked as if they had just bathed in blood. On the wall behind them a cryptic message was scrawled in blood and ink.

"Moonbay? Come on Moonbay look at me. I need you to go and rouse the guards, any one okay, go and do it now." He gave her a small slap on the cheek which seemed to tear her out of her daze temporarily. "Come on now go get some help." She nodded once and ran off trying to find someone to help them.

Irvine apprehensively approached his friends, checking there pulses he was relieved that the were both still alive but just barely. He turned around at the sound of heavy footsteps. Thomas, Karl, and some of the guards arrived on the scene. "Don't just stand there!" Irvine roared "Help me get them down!"

And in the distance along the rocky cliffs, as the thunder roared it's triumph over the land, so a madman, with innocent blood on his hands.

A/N The Grunty that goes Beep is with the people from zoids.

**Van:** I can't believe you did that to Fiona and I.

**Fiona: **yea that was BS Dude!

**Van: **Uhhh Bullets you still have knifes in you...

**Fiona: **Huh? Oh Rips out bullets and heals her self.

**The Grunty that goes Beep: **Uhhh Fiona you do know that you will have to be shot again right...

**Fiona: **Again...What do you mean again?

**The Grunty that goes Beep: **Well Fiona umm… you're still like that in the next chapter...which means...claps hands Killer comes out with guns and starts to laugh.

**Fiona **NOOOOO! Runs around the stage. Van also starts chasing the Killer...

**Irvine: **how stupid...the way that those two are fighting they will never get together...

**Moonbay: **I beg to differ I bet you my whole salary that van falls in love with Fiona in the end.

**Irvine: **I bet you **my** whole salary that Van gets in a fight with Fiona in the end.

**The Grunty that goes Beep: **Looks at the chaos..."I don't know who side to go on... Please just RR...''


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Yay! So I'm finally updating this fic. I'm sorry it took so long. I rewrote the first Chapter _Night in the Darkness. _So feel free to re read it and tell me what you think.

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Zoids Chaotic Century would still be running. But I don't own it so there.

**Chapter 2: ****Waiting for the Storm**

In the dull lamp light of the waiting room Moonbay and Irvine sat, waiting for news on their friends. Dark circles hung under their eyes it had been several sleepless days since Van and Fiona had been found in the hangers. Moonbay was crouched down in a chair she had her head buried in her hands seeking to get some rest. Across the room Irvine  
lay stretched out on a small couch his eyes were closed as if he was sleeping, however his bunched up expression of confusion told a different story.

For the last two weeks members of the Guardian Force had interrogated them mercilessly along with others, seeing no ties they left the investigation at a stand still everyone had an alibi and someone to back it up.

Now it was time to re-gather and rest. Both Moonbay and Irvine took the chance willingly. They had sat in the hospital

Van's injuries included a fractured skull, a broken hand and a fractured neck, along with other injuries that he had sustained. 

Fiona was a different story…

The bullet in her chest had caused massive damage; it had peppered her lungs and taken out a large piece of her heart. It was taking the doctors all there skill so save her now. On top of the chest damage she also had several broken ribs and a fractured spine. Apparently she was in a coma as well.

Moonbay sighed and rubbed her temple where a headache was starting to form. A few more doctors walked out of the other room. None of them said a word. She wished that someone would say something but at the same time she didn't want them to say anything. If they didn't say anything that meant that they were still alive.

Silence and then the last of the doctors walked out of the room. The head doctor sat next to Moonbay. He was a middle-aged man some where in his late 40s or 50s. From the look of him he hadn't slept since the attack. Moonbay looked into his tired rimed and bloodshot eyes, silently asking 'Are they okay? Are they alive?'

As if reading her mind the doctor replied, "Your friends are going to be okay."

Irvine sat up his face was a picture of immense relief, "You mean…"

"Yes, Irvine your friends are going to be just fine, they just need time to recover."

Moonbay though she was going to break down, however she held back the tears that threatened to fall long enough for the doctor to tell them that they could go in and see their friends again.

Under the glaring lights and heavy curtains they could see Van and Fiona in deep sleep. Fiona appeared to be unresponsive, however Van was awake propped up on a mass of pillows. On the stainless steel tray besides him, pills lay spilled and scattered. Van groaned he tried to open his eyes but the bright lights prevented him from looking. "Van?" Moonbays voice split through his head like a knife.

"Yeah I'm here." He croaked, his voice was dry and cracked. "Where am I?"  
his voice sounded strange to him.

"Your in the infirmary" the lights dimmed. He opened his eyes, Moonbays bleary face caught his eye and he tried to focus.

"Why am I here?" he asked,

"Your head is spit and you have quite the broken hand." Irvine muttered, sitting down in the chair next to his friend.

I don't understand... What happened to me?"

"Don't you remember anything?" Irvine sauntered over to the cot. "You and Fiona were attacked."

"By who?"

"Search me."

Van lay back on the pillows, cramming his eyes shut he tried to recall the last moments of conciseness. "The last thing I remember was telling Fiona to get out of the way... there was a shot and then I guess I passed out."

Then it hit him

"Fiona... What happened to her? Where is she?"

Irvine and Moonbay looked at each other.

"What? What's going on she's not... She's not dead is she?"

"No, but she was attacked too Van. She was hit hard and…"

"Where is she? I want to see her." He demanded. Irvine and Moonbay looked uneasily at each other.

"Van you have to understand…"

"I want to see her." He snapped, currently not in the mood to listen to his friends.

Moonbay passed a worried look to Irvine. "He has a right to know…" He said, bowing his head and considering the out-comes. Upon reaching his decision he stood up and wrenched the plastic drapes that separated the two patients open.

Pain, anger and sadness wielded up inside of Van's chest like some ugly three-headed monster, upon seeing Fiona.

Fiona was covered in bandages, her chest had large bloodstains covering it, her face was deathly pale, her hair hung limp around her deathlike body. She looked like she may have been dead, Van would have thought so if he hadn't seen the faint pulse on the monitor.

"She was shot Van; she managed to survive several shots to the chest. She hasn't woken up since then, the doctors say she might be in a coma."

"When will he snap out of it?" Vans eyes were full of pain and sadness, hidden rage lurked behind them.

"We don't know, the doctors say she may never snap out of it..."

"What?" Van exploded. This couldn't be happening not to Fiona. "No... no..." He whispered in silent denial. Tears fell from his tightly closed eyes. He didn't care, Fiona was gone. "I couldn't protect her…"

Irvine knew that staying would be one of the worse things that they could do at the moment. Taking Moonbay by the hand he gently pulled her away. "Come on Moonbay, let's go." Irvine led her out of the room, and left Van to his silent agony.

Outside, the flatlands prepared for another assault from the threatening storms.

**A/N:**

Okay so I'm sorry that I haven't updated this in so long. I feel really bad, I'll try to get some more up soon. This chapter isn't very long, however the next one I've actually got an idea to work on. This I just kind of did cold turkey…

**Van:** so when does the action start?

**The Grunty that goes Beep:** Shouldn't you be more worried about Fiona?

**Van:** Nah… She'll wake up.

**The Grunty that goes Beep**: What makes you so sure of that?

**Van**: You have to wake her up she can't be comatose the entire time!

**The Grunty that goes Beep:** I'm the one writing the story so I guess that you will have to wait and find out.

**Van:** Nooooooo…

**The Grunty that goes Beep:** Oh shut up Van or I'll beat you again.

**Van:** (shuts up)

**The Grunty that goes Beep:** Don't forget to R&R I'll update faster.


	3. Chapter 3: Life goes on

Chapter 3: Life Goes On

Several weeks had passed since the attack on Van and Fiona. Van had been recovering nicely, he complained of headaches and it hurt him to try and use his broken hand. However the mental strain of loosening his long time friend had hit him the hardest. Ever since the attack he had barely moved from the infirmary, nowadays he had confined himself to watching over Fiona. Who was still in critical condition, and in a comatose state.

Irvine and Moonbay looked in at Van, his eyes were bloodshot and dark circles hung under them. They heard the screams, when he would wake up from his nightmares. Van hardly slept any more, and it pained them greatly to see him in his current state. Moonbay turned away and collapsed in one of the nearby chairs. "Do you think he'll ever snap out of it Irvine?" she asked.

"Who knows," he replied taking a seat next to Moonbay. "He's lost right now. Fiona meant the world to him. She was always at his side, and now she's gone; and may never come back…" He sighed and closed his eyes. "Our only hope is if Fiona wakes up. Or if he finally moves on and finds someone new."

Moonbay looked down at the ground "We can only hope that Fiona wakes up, Van would be devastated to have to leave her."

"Yeah" Irvine muttered "But he can just sit there and mope around forever…" He was about to say something else but his thoughts were interrupted by several guards coming in to the infirmary. "What do you want?" Irvine snarled. The guards were loud and caused a huge commotion.

"We're here for Lieutenant Van Flyheight" the head officer replied smartly and saluted.

"He's in there" Irvine said pointing to the room furthest to the left. "I doubt he'll go anywhere though, he's been in a state of depression for quite awhile and he doesn't like being disturbed"

Irvine winced at his memory of what had happened when he had tried to get Van to go to a party with him. Van had ended up yelling at him and eventually driving Irvine away. He had later apologized but he was still emotionally un-stable.

"He'll come with us when he hears the news." He head guard said before vanishing into the room.

"Yeah right," Irvine muttered, he tried to relax but the noise of the guards was getting to him. Just as he was going to yell at them to shut their traps, the head guard stepped out of the room followed by a ragged looking version of Van.

Moonbay and Irvine looked at him with shock. He was thin, mostly because of stress, and the fact that he never seemed to eat much anymore. His hair while clean was somewhat un-kept and spiked out all over the place. His eyes held a blank stare and he walked sluggishly, never once looking up. Irvine thought that he looked like a badly beaten dog who no longer trusted anyone.

Irvine looked at Moonbay who was as shocked as he was. The head guard turned to them as the others filed out. "Your presence is requested but is not mandatory" He saluted and followed his troop out the door.

Irvine heaved himself out of the chair with a tired groan. "I don't know about you but I'm going to see what's going on." And with that he left. Moonbay was torn she could stay and watch Fiona or she could follow Irvine. She thought about it for a minute and decided that she would stay and watch her old friend.

Moonbay slowly got up and headed in to see how Fiona was. Fiona's room was dark and cold the shades to the windows were closed and there were only a few rays of light that penetrated through the blinds. 'this is rather depressing' she thought and ripped open the blinds to let in the sunlight. 'there much better'

After that she turned her attention to Fiona. She was still covered in bandages, and hooked up the multiple machines that they used to monitor her health. 'At least she's alive' Moonbay thought wishing that there was something she could do so save her friend. She brushed Fiona's bangs out of her face and looked at the deathly pale skin that was stretched over Fiona's face.

Remembering an article that she had read about how coma patients could hear other people she decided to try and talk to Fiona. "Come on Fiona you've got to pull out of it… for me for Irvine… and for Van. He's lost without you Fiona. He needs you, we all need you."

Van and Irvine, headed up to the main conference room, as soon as they walked in Van was temporarily blinded by the open windows and the over heads. After the attack he noticed that he was extremely sensitive to light. It gave him a headache and made him feel sick. Irvine knew this so his first reaction was to dim the over heads and shut the blinds. "Thanks Irvine" Van muttered, his voice was rough but quiet. He found a vacant seat and collapsed in it closing his eyes and massaging his temples to try and rid himself of his headache.

"Thank you for coming here Lieutenant Flyheight, we have much to discuss." Van instantly recognized the voice as Karl Schubaltz.

"What do you want?" Van asked "I've told you everything I remember regarding the attack. I don't have anything else to tell you."

"I know Van" Karl replied "But this is a different case, you see" he paused for a second before proceeding. "Raven and Reese were attacked just a few weeks after your attack. The attacks were similar and we thought that they might have some kind of connection."

Vans interest was peeked, he motioned for Karl to continue and listened carefully. "Apparently Raven and Reese were sleeping when a stranger came into their camp and told Raven to had Reese over. He said no and tried to defend her, he ended up getting shot but his injury was nothing serious. Apparently Shadow and Specula attacked the man before he could do any more damage and he ran off" He pulled out a box containing some bullets. "Both these bullets contain the same caliber, and the same grooves impressions. We've concluded they came from the same gun and the same attacker."

Van was still for a moment, disbelief had temporary clouded his thoughts. "Do you think…" he paused and then remembered something that the attacker had said "do you think this guy is out hunting for Ancient Zoidians?" Karl and some of the others looked at him oddly. "Think about it." Van said "He comes after Fiona and then he goes after Reese meaning to kill them. I don't think its coincidence. "

"I think it's a little farfetched and yet… I have to agree with Van on that one" Irvine said. So far it's been peaceful and there haven't been to many murders. If something like this was happening before I think we would have picked up on it by now"

Karl and some of the others took a moment to consider. "It is quite possible."Karl said, "I'll run it by the detectives working on the case and I'll have them look into it. As for now that's all I really wanted to talk about, your all dismissed." Van stood up and stumbled a little bit, but Irvine caught him and steadied him. As they were getting ready to leave Karl motioned for them to stay. Van and Irvine were curious but did as Karl said; the last of the group shuffled out and Karl shut the doors leaving them in peace.

"What's this all about Karl?" Irvine asked impatiently.

"I have some news about Fiona…" He said "there may be a cure for her coma."

Van's head snapped up, and he forgot about the pain that his injuries were causing him. "A cure? Really!?" It seemed almost to good to be true.

"Perhaps," Karl said "but don't quote me. The military has been working on a drug to try and wake people out of deep comas. Its proven effective in some cases but there are… Serious side effects." He watched Van's face fall , but continued on "The side effects range, from amnesia, blindness, several other serious infections and death."

"So what your saying is that I can save her… but at a price?" Van said, looking down at the ground his face devoid of all emotion.

"Yes, that's basically what I'm saying. However I'm leaving that decision up to you. You know her the best, and I think you should be the one to make that decision." Karl stood up "the choice is yours. Be sure it's the right one." He held the door open and allowed Irvine to escort Van back to Fiona's room.

'The right choice… what the hell is the right choice?' Van argued with himself. 'I care for her but the last thing I want to do is jeopardize her health. Or worse'

Irvine looked at his troubled friend. "A penny for your thoughts Van?" hoping he could help.

"My thoughts are rather clouded at the moment Irvine." Van replied "I don't know what to do at this point. Should I try to save her, should I just let her be" His voice shook with stress. "I just don't know what to do."

Irvine patted him on the back "Hey it'll be alright, Fiona's strong and she'll make it through this mess." He pushed open the infirmary door and let Van sit down and rest. He walked into Fiona's room and closed the door. "Hey" he said walking over towards Moonbay "How's Fiona?"

"Still as silent as ever" she said, "what did the guards want?"

Irvine proceeded to tell her about the attempt on Reese's life and the evidence that they had found. Along with the medication that Karl had told Van about. Moonbay was quiet for awhile as she mulled the information over in her head."What is he going to do?" She finally asked.

"I don't know yet. He's confused and really torn about the subject. Hopefully he'll wait and think about what he's going to do. Until then all we can do is support him."

Moonbay nodded I agreement. "I'll shut the window; I know how much the light bothers him." She closed the blinds, leaving the room dark again. And followed Irvine back out into the waiting room.

Van looked up at his friends, "Hey Van" Moonbay said, "She's waiting for you."

"Thanks, Moonbay" he stood up and wavered for a minute.

"Van?" Irvine said. "If there's anything we can do to help you, please let us know. We're here for you"

"Yeah" Moonbay replied "Despite what you think we're here to help you"

Van looked down at the floor "I'm sorry I've been such a jerk to you. It's just been so hard dealing with everything,"

"Hey don't worry about it" Irvine smiled and lightly punched Van in the arm. "We understand completely."

For the first time in several weeks Van looked up and finally smiled "Both of you thank you." He hugged Moonbay then Irvine, and went back to look after Fiona.

They watched their friend depart and then walked out of the Infirmary and down to the mess hall where they could talk.

Van collapsed in his wheel-chair, he had used it right after the attack at first he had hated the thing but he had gradually grown used to it and sat in it whenever he was with Fiona. He leaned over the side of the bed and held on to Fiona's had. He had been talking to her ever since he had woken up. He only wished that she could hear him. "Fiona…" His voice always sounded strange to him "Fiona… please snap out of it… the longer you stay like this the more I keep thinking I'm going to lose you. Please Fiona" He begged "I love you"

He closed his eyes letting loose of all the hate, stress and anxiety he had been feeling for the last several weeks. He felt tired and drained che tried despratly to keep awake but, The sleep came over him like a giant wave and swept him into a dreamless sleep.

When Van finally woke up it was dark. The full moon shone over the horizon bathing the land in pale silver light. Van opened the blinds and took a moment to observe it, it was truly beautiful. Looking over at Fiona he thought 'I wish she could see this.' He stood up and stretched his back. The clock on the night stand read two o'clock a.m. He decided to go check up on Zeek, he had been ignoring his faithful organoid and felt he needed to go pay some attention to his friend.

Van placed his hand on the door handle and sighed, he wasn't as tired any more but he was still stressed. He opened the door and took one last look at Fiona, the moonlight cast it's glow on her already pale face. He couldn't see well in the darkness but he could have sworn that her eyes were open ever so slightly. 'Is she…?' the thought flashed through his mind, but he denied it. He walked out the door and would have gone if that thought would have left him alone.

Van looked back once more and quietly walked over to Fiona's side to satisfy his curiosity. He cupped her face with his hand and stroked her smooth skin. Looking down he was almost sure that her eyes were open. He knelt down and took a closer look, sure enough her eyes were slightly open. Van felt his heart race in his chest. "Fiona?" her eyelids fluttered a bit and now he could see her crimson eyes. "Fiona please… please wake up" he coaxed her for a few moments. Then slowly enough Fiona's eye's opened completely.

For a few moments Van thought that this was all a dream. But when Fiona's hand came up and touched his, he knew this was no dream. Vans breath caught in his chest for a moment. "Fiona" he whispered, gently touching her face with his finger tips.

Fiona was quiet for a moment, then spoke only a single word. "Van" Her voice was soft and cracked a bit from the lack of water.

"Fiona, your awake!" Van was ecstatic.

"What happened to you? She asked, and what happened to me? Where am I?" She felt horrible and was in immense pain.

Van was in a fluster; he stood up and ran as fast as he dared to the door. "I'll answer all your questions later right now I need to go and get that quack of a doctor." He ran out the door and as he went down the hall Fiona could hear him shouting at the top of his lungs for the doctor to get down to the infirmary as soon as possible.

As stunned and confused as she was Fiona couldn't help but laugh a little. Van was happy, and that was all that mattered as far as she was concerned.

The Grunty that goes Beep: Well Irvine looks like your losing the bet so far.

Irvine: Oh don't worry about that… I'll take care of this soon enough *evil laughter*

The Grunty that goes Beep:… Sure…

A/N: Holly cow my muse finally woke up XD I can write again!

I'm sorry it took so long to get this posted, I'm going to start chapter 4 soon so look out for an update!


	4. Chapter 4: Winds of Change

A/N: Look everyone I actually updated! *throws confetti* and now… I actually have a solid plot line for the next three chapters! I'm like Moonbay I'm just making it up as I go along. Lol

Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids

**Chapter 4: Winds of Change**

******************

The morning after Fiona woke up, Van took a turn for the better, he was up and walking around and he was actually smiling. Irvine and Moonbay watched him tackle breakfast that morning and it did their hearts good to see Van back to his almost normal self.

"Hey Van how's Fiona doing? Irvine asked over his morning coffee.

"She's doing great" he replied enthusiastically "the last time I saw her she was drifting in and out of

sleep and so I let her rest. I was going to go and check in on her after breakfast"

"Would you mind if we tag along?" Moonbay asked.

"No, I don't mind" said Van "I'm sure she'd love the company."

They finished up there breakfast in a hurry and tramped up to the infirmary. When they got there Fiona was awake and from the look of it she had been moved off of several machines. She was breathing and moving on her own. She wasn't talking much because her throat was sore and she tired easily. "Hey Fiona" Van said as they walked in the door.

"Hey, Van" Fiona replied, she smiled glad that Van was there.

Van smiled back "I hope you don't mind but I brought you some company" he beckoned Moonbay and Irvine in.

Hey guys" She spoke as loud as she could without putting herself through too much pain. Her chest still pained her because of the stitches and staples that they had used when they had taken out the bullet fragments.

"Hey Fiona" Moonbay and Irvine chorused back. "How are you feeling?" asked Moonbay.

Fiona winced in pain as she propped herself up on the pillows. "I'm doing alright but I'm still in a lot of pain" she said. Van rushed to her side and helped her to sit up.

"Thanks Van" Fiona said with a small smile.

"No problem" He replied as he sat down on the side of her bed.

"I'm glad to see your doing alright Fiona you gave us one hell of a scare." Irvine said. "For a while we didn't think you would make it"

"Correction" said Moonbay "You didn't think she'd make it, I had full faith in her the whole time she was in a coma."

"Yeah right miss, doom and gloom, the day she was brought in you were all. 'Fiona's not goanna make it thru the night.' You looked like you were going to cry your eyes out" Yelled Irvine.

"Guys?" Fiona gasped out "As happy as I am to see you. Could you please argue outside, your giving Van and I a headache." Moonbay and Irvine grinned sheepishly for a minute and excused themselves.

Fiona gasped out weakly, and collapsed against the pillows, her whole body was wracked in pain. She felt Van grip her hand tightly, and she squeezed back in response. Van was deeply concerned she was shaking, and her body was freezing. Thinking fast he shoved two of Fiona's pain pills down her throat.

Fiona lay there and closed her eyes, wishing for the pain to go away. Behind her closed eyelids she saw nothing but nightmares. She closed her eyes once, Van was being shot, She closed them again, her masked attacker stood over her with his gun, She closed her eyes once more and saw herself lying in a pool of blood looking into the face of the killer. She would have screamed in fright if Van hadn't been sitting next to her holding his ever watchful vigil.

Slowly enough though the pain started to subside, and the sleep started to take over her. She opened her eyes one last time; Van was standing over her with deep concern in his eyes. Fiona gave him one last smile, until she passed on into the realm of sleep.

Van sat with her holding her hand as she drifted in and out of her nightmares. He wished he could take all the pain away. Fiona eventually settled into a sleepless dream and lay still breathing lightly.

Van stood up and walked around the room to stretch his legs. There was a knock at the door, and wasn't exactly surprised to see Dr. D there. The old man walked in and looked at Fiona he was obviously concerned with Fiona's condition. "How is she" He asked.

"She's doing alright for the moment; however she's still in a lot of pain, I just gave her some medication, and she fell asleep."

"Good; good…" The old doctor muttered absentmindedly. He was quiet for a minute then spoke up. "Van, may ask you something?"

"Sure" Van said, he was a bit surprised with how Dr. D was acting.

The old man shut the door allowing them to talk in privacy he turned to Van. "I hate to ask, but did Fiona seem stressed or worried about anything before the attack?"

Van thought back to the weeks preceding the attack "Not really" he said then thought back to the dream that Fiona had been having. "She was having nightmares and had a lot of trouble sleeping. I think she was stressed about her work on the ruins too." He ran his fingers through his hair. "That's all I can think of at the moment"

"She was stressed out about the ruin work?" Dr. D's head shot up he looked a bit startled. "What did she tell you?"

Van scratched his head. "She didn't tell me much. We had been so preoccupied with work we didn't get to talk much." He thought back to that night "She mentioned that the team was on the verge of a break through."

Van stared off remembering what Fiona had said to him on the night of the attack. "There was one more thing." Van muttered "The night of the attack she was telling me about one of her dreams. And she told me that someone was after her."

Dr. D stared at him "what did you say?"

"Well" Van started off telling him about the dreams that Fiona had told him about. He knew that soon after she had started working on the ruins, she had started having nightmares. The closer that the team came to the breakthrough the worse that the night mares had become,

He knew this because the walls that separated their rooms were rather thin. At night he could hear her whimper and sometimes he would hear her scream. "I asked her what was wrong before, but she never told me. I didn't want to force her to talk about it. So I left her alone and didn't bring it up"

"I see" Dr. D seemed troubled and distant; his face was screwed up in deep concentration.

Van didn't want to disturb him but he was curious about what was troubling the old man. "Is there something that you're hiding from us?" Van asked cautiously. He was becoming somewhat disturbed by his friends un-natural behavior.

Dr. D stared at the floor intently, he opened his mouth as if to say something, but he closed it right away.

"Dr. D… If there's something that you're hiding from us…" Van said it as gently as possible, but there was a certain amount of force behind it too.

"No I'm not hiding anything from you." His voice wavered a bit "Nothing at all" He snapped and briskly walked out of the room.

Van glared at the old man walking out of the room. He knew something was wrong but he didn't want to pressure it out of the Doctor. "I'll let him keep his secret for now…" Van muttered to no one in particular. He looked to Fiona who was now sleeping peacefully. He brushed her bangs out of her face, something welded up in his chest. A wave of, fear, sadness and love washed over him. He knew that he feared for Fiona's life, as well as his own. There was sadness in thought of losing her like he did when she was in her coma.

However he questioned himself when it came to love. 'Is that how I really feel about her?' He asked himself. He knew he cared about her; he liked her as a friend. But did he truly love her?

He looked back into the past, thinking about all the times that she had been there to support him. She had been his best friend; she was always by his side to support him. There was more to that though, and thinking back on it he came to realize what he truly felt for Fiona.

As he brushed her bangs out of the way, he whispered to her quietly. "I love you Fiona" He whispered. He stood and turned to leave looking back at Fiona, He could have sworn that he saw her smile.

******************

In the coming weeks both Van and Fiona went through physical therapy, and other forms of therapy. There therapists we're kind and supportive people. At first Van was apprehensive about all of this he thought of his physical therapist more as a physical terrorist. However now that he was back to using his hand and walking on his injured foot he was glad of the help that he had received.

As for Fiona she was back up to walking around without having to stop and rest every five minutes. Her chest still pained her everyone and awhile but she was doing better. She was on medication to help her sleep and it seemed to help her. She had fewer nightmares and when she did. They were brief and they passed quickly enough.

Fiona walked out on to one of the lower hangers, from the upper level she could see Van tinkering around with the Blade Liger. She smiled content with watching him. 'I'm glad things have been quiet lately,' Fiona though to herself as she watched Van work. 'I just hope it remains that way.' She thought to herself.

Deep in her heart though she knew that to be untrue; something deep inside her told her that this was going to be a long lasting battle that would test both she and Van to the limit.

Her mind kept turning the concept over and over but with no apparent solution in sight she eventually gave up on it. Deciding to focus on the peace and quiet while it lasted, deep in her heart she knew it wasn't going to last long.

A few minutes later he stepped out of the cockpit, looking up he saw Fiona looking down at him. He smiled and waved to her, "Hey Fiona" he called "come on down."

"Alright I'll be right there" She called down turning around and walking to the stairs.

Van watched her walking down the stairs, and thought about how to approach her. He still had yet to tell her about his feelings for her. He wanted to tell her, but every time he had tried to talk to her they were either interrupted by someone, or Van panicked and left the subject.

This time he was determined to tell her about his true feelings for her. He took a deep breath and watched as Fiona walked down the last of the stairs.

"Hey Van" she said, "what's up?"

"Err… Nothing much" he said desperately trying to hide the nervousness in his voice. He wondered why it was so hard to try and those three little words. "Fiona, there's something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it Van?" she asked looking up at him with her crimson eyes.

Fiona's stare caught Van off guard and he was at a loss for words. He wanted to say what was on his mind but what came out was. "Have you seen Zeek around here?" Van mentally cursed himself for his nervousness.

"No but I'll go look for him" She didn't seem to notice Van's nervousness and Van was silently grateful for that.

Fiona walked around the hanger and stretched her legs; it was great to be up and moving again, instead of being stuck in that stupid hospital bed. During her therapy she had discovered how much she had taken walking for granted.

She looked around the ground floor and saw a glint coming from behind a stack of boxes that contained zoid parts, and other miscellaneous items. She knew Zeek liked to sleep in the shade that the boxes provided for him. She moved a few of the boxes out of the way, and let out a scream.

Van's face turned white and his heart started to race. "Hang on Fiona!" he yelled running to where she stood.

Fiona couldn't move she was rooted to where she stood in fear. In front of her A gold organoid with coal black eyes glared at her, and next to it a badly damaged Ambient lurked in the shadows. Fiona's breath caught in her throat, as she managed to stumble back a few paces.

The golden organoid swung his tail at Fiona determined to break her ribs, and land her on the floor. Van pushed her to the ground right before the organoids tail hit her. Thankfully Van's momentum carried them forward enough to avoid another attack from Ambient. The gold organoid growled and got ready to pounce.

Van looked up and rolled to the side as the organoid leapt into the air. 'this is it…' Van thought distantly. He saw the organoids gaping mouth when out of the blue he saw a flash of silver.

"Zeek!" relief flooded through Van's voice.

Zeek slammed the gold organoid into the opposite wall leaving it stunned. He turned and saw Van trying to fend off Ambient. He growled and sizing the situation up made his move.

Zeek used his boosters and slammed in to Ambient who let out a shrill screech and collapsed on the ground. Ambient withered and flipped around on the ground, he screeched and cried in pain. Zeek sensed this and decided to put an end to the organoids pain.

He jumped on Ambient's body putting his full weight on the chest cavity and collapsed it. Ambient shuddered one last time before his bright green eyes faded and turned to a dull flat grey.

While Zeek had been fighting with Ambient the golden organoid had made his recovery and was making his way towards Van and Fiona. Van looked around desperately looking for something that he could take out the organoid with.

He spotted a live wire that was used to help spark engines, Van grabbed a hold of it and slammed it into the organoids face. The organoid shrieked and growled, he was still standing but a section of his face was charred black. Van whipped the wire around but the organoid dodged it and triped Van with his tail.

Van landed heavily on the ground, the breath was instantly knocked out of him. The golden organoid looked at Fiona with its empty black eyes. "Fiona, run!" Van gasped out.

Fiona stood there rooted to the floor, she couldn't tear her eyes from the organoids empty pits.

"Run!" Van yelled snapping Fiona out of her trance.

She made a mad dash for the stairs, dodging a attack from the organoid. It slammed into the wall buying her some time. Fiona ran up the stairs and made it half way up the stairs when the gold organoid made another dash for her.

But Zeek was too fast for him. Zeek slammed his tail in to the organoids head, and head butted it until it was at the end of the hanger's edge. The gold looked down at the steep drop below; and decided that it was time to fly.

He growled and lashed out at Zeek, who dodged out of the way. The gold organoid blasted off the hanger's edge and took to the sky. Zeek made a mad dash for him but he was to late the golden Organoid had taken to the sky and was gone.

Zeek growled defensively at the retreating organoid, and then looked back to Van and Fiona.

Van was up and moving around again, Fiona was sitting on the stairs clutching her chest and breathing heavily.

Van ran to her trying to calm her down and get her breathing normally again. He knelt down beside her and noticed that she was shaking. He held her in his arms letting her bury her head into his chest. Van didn't mind one bit, he kept talking to her, and kept stroking her back.

It took Fiona almost ten minutes to calm down, but when she did calm down she found that she could breathe normally again. She relaxed a little bit, but held on to Van.

Van called Zeek over and told him to get Moonbay, Irvine, and Karl. Zeek nuzzled both of them reassuringly and ran to get the others.

Van ran his fingers through Fiona's hair; over the years he found that this was one way to help to calm her down. Fiona shuddered and looked up into Vans face. "Don't worry Fiona" He said sounding calmer than he felt. "I won't let them hurt you… I promise."

Van stared into Fiona's bright crimson eyes, he could see the fear in her eyes. He hated to see that look in her eyes, but as he looked further into her eyes he could see a glimpse comfort and security in her eyes.

Fiona gave him a questioning look. "Van, is something wrong?" She didn't know why but for some reason Van's stare made her nervous, but it also sent a strange feeling into her stomach. She slowly moved closer to Van.

Van moved in as well closing the gap between them. Their lips came together in a small but passionate kiss. Neither of them wanted to pull away and it only deepened. They were forced to pull away for lack of air.

"Fiona?" Van started out "I-"

Whatever Van was going to say was cut off by the door to the hanger slamming open Karl was the first one through the door followed closely by Irvine, Dr. D, Moonbay and about ten armed soldiers.

The soldiers secured the perimeter, and two of them stood over the remains of Ambient. Karl and Irvine helped Van and Fiona to their feet, and took stock of the destruction of the hanger.

Boxes had been toppled over, scraps and extra parts were scattered on the floor, and there were dents in the wall from where Zeek had slammed into the other organoid. Other than that the hanger was intact.

"What happened in here?" Karl asked alarmed.

Van pointed down at the floor where Ambients body lay in ruins. "He and another organoid attacked Fiona, I think Zeek killed Ambient, the other one got away."

Karl looked rather disturbed by this statement. "Another organoid?" he asked "what did it look like?"

"It was gold, with black eyes." Fiona said, shuddering a little bit.

Karl's face turned a pale shade of white; however he kept his face strait. "Gold with black eyes? Are you sure?" He demanded.

"She's not lying Karl" Van snapped.

Karl grabbed a guard and whispered something to him. The guard saluted and took off down the hall ways.

"I want you two to evacuate immediately"

Van stood his ground "No" he growled.

"Unless you want to end up on kitchen duty then you will evacuate immediately" Karl roared "Now move before I report you for insubordination"

"You know something that we don't, so why don't you tell us just what the hell is going on?" Van yelled losing his temper. Had he not been exhausted by the attack he would have made Karl tell him what was going on.

Karl glared at Van, and started snapping orders to his subordinates. The hanger was to be blocked off, and Ambient's corpse was to be taken from the hanger and into the downstairs lab.

Van growled at the lack of answers that he was receiving, he had a right to know what was going on. Both he and Fiona's lives were on the line, as far as he was concerned they had a right to all the information that they could get their hands on.

Karl turned to Van and Fiona, the hostile tone was gone, replaced by a tired tone of regret "I am going to tell you this one last time. You are to evacuate this hanger immediately, please stay in your rooms until further notice."

Van noticed the deep circles under Karl's eyes. From the look of it he hadn't slept in weeks.

"I'm sorry I can't tell you anything. Even I don't know what's going on anymore. Now if you will please evacuate the hanger…" Karl once again repeated.

Van stood there for a moment, then got up and placed a arm around Fiona's shoulder and together they exited the hanger followed by Moonbay and Irvine, and Zeek. Once outside Van let out a tired groan, he was sore, tired and now he was confused as ever. They were hiding secrets from him, and he wanted to know why.

Outside Zeek was waiting for them, Fiona smiled and patted the organoids head, he growled happily.

"Van, are you feeling alright?" Fiona looked up at him she was worried about how stressed out Van was.

"Yeah, I'm alright I've just got a small headache." He replied "How about you? Were you hurt at all?"

Fiona shook her head "I'm alright thanks to you and Zeek."

Zeek nudged Fiona with his nose she smiled a little and patted the organoids smooth cool nose. "Thank you Zeek I owe you one" Zeek growled politely in response, then retreated down the hall presumably to one of the empty hangers where he would sleep the rest of the day away.

"So" Irvine spoke up "are you going to tell us what happened? Or are you just going to leave us completely clueless?"

"Let's go to my room." Van suggested "It's quiet in there, and people won't bother us there."

As they walked down the hallway they noticed several people running papers up and down the stairs into the labs, and into the conference rooms that were scattered around the base. 'I sure like to know what the hell is going on around here.' Van thought to himself. Watching two soldiers holding boxes of papers slam into each other, spilling files, papers, and photographs all over the floor as they scrambled to pick them up a commanding officer came upon the scene and started yelling at them for their clumsiness.

They walked up two more flights of stairs before coming across Van's room. Van unlocked the door, and they all filed in. Van's room was spacious compared to some of the other rooms; it had a small living room, bathroom, and bedroom.

Surprisingly Van's room was kept neat and tidy, which seemed to surprise Irvine and Moonbay.  
"Make you're selves at home." Van said taking a seat on the sofa; Fiona sat next to him while Moonbay and Irvine took the chairs to the side.

"So what happened to you two?" Irvine asked once again.

Van sagged back against the sofa "well…" he sighed "It happed like this" Van told them of their encounter with the strange organoid, and Ambient. He told of how Zeek had saved the day for them. How the golden organoid had made its escape and how its main target seemed to be Fiona.

Irvine and Moonbay looked at their friends with deep concern. Something was wrong and everyone knew it. Yet there was nothing that they could do about it.

Moonbay noticed how tired both Van and Fiona looked. She felt deep sympathy for them they had gone through so much already. She gave Irvine a nudge that went unnoticed by Van and Fiona. Irvine got the hint, and stood up.

Both Irvine and Moonbay excused themselves and exited the room leaving Van and Fiona alone. Fiona sighed and lay against Van resting her head against his chest. She could hear the soothing rhythm of his heartbeat.

For some unknown reason it helped to calm her down and relax.

Van lightly stroked her cheek, allowing the tide of sleep to wash over him. He looked down to see Fiona in a comfortable doze against his chest.

He allowed himself a small smile; he had never felt so relaxed. He held Fiona in his arms and let the gentle waves of sleep lull him into a peaceful sleep.

******************

The clock read Six fifteen when a guard came knocking on the door. Van answered it leaving Fiona to sleep. She looked so peaceful lying there he didn't want to wake her up. The guard saluted and informed Van that both he and Fiona were needed at a meeting. Van asked what it was about, however the guard didn't know.

Van groaned inwardly, and told the guard that he would be at the meeting as soon as possible. The guard saluted and headed off down the hallway. Van made his way back to the couch and gave Fiona a gentle shake to wake her up.

Naturally she protested a bit, but she was up soon enough. "Apparently we're wanted for a meeting." He said wrapping his arms around her.

Fiona leaned into Van's warm embrace savoring the moment with him. "Do you think they're going to tell us what's going on?" she asked.

"Maybe, but I highly doubt it." He said, leaning down and kissing her on the lips. "Why?" he asked admiring the small blush that graced Fiona's face.

"Just curious" she mumbled.

"Well let's go see what they want." Van took her hand and they exited the room.

They ended up going to the top floor meeting hall. When they arrived they were surprised to see, Karl, Dr. D, Herman, Thomas, and other assorted higher ups. Van was slightly suspicious as to what was going on. It seemed strange as to why so many people where here.

"So to what honor do we owe this little party to?" Van growled.

"Cut the crap Flyhight" Karl snapped "you're here on important business."

Van glared at Karl but made no retort. Instead Rob Herman stood up and took matters into his own hands. "Lieutenant Van Flyheight, and Fiona Elisia Lanett." He stated in a calm but slightly strained voice. "Due to the recent attempts on your lives we of the Guardian Force think that it would be best to move you to a safe location, until your attacker can be caught."

"What?" Van yelled furious.

"Plans have already been made; you will travel to the Wind Collony starting tomorrow morning. Miss. Lanett you will be going with Lieutenant Flyheight. You will stay there until we deem it appropriate that it is safe for you to come back."

Van was furious inside, but deep down he knew that this was the best decision. For Fiona's safety as well as his own, it pained him to say it but somehow he managed to spit out the words. "Of course Captain. We'll be ready at dawn."

"Good" Herman said "you'll be going to the Wind Colony; we want you to stay low and keep a low profile. I've already talked to your sister Van; she'll be expecting you in a few days. Also, we thought it best that you two travel alone. It draws less attention that way."

"And if we should run into trouble?" Van grumbled, he didn't like to think about it, but it could happen.

"We'll have guards posted every few miles; they can keep an eye on you and assist you if you should need any help"

The rest of the time was spent talking about what roads to take where the guards would be posted. What to expect and so forth. Fiona listened to it all, even though her face was blank. Van knew she was upset.

She would have to leave the ruins; she would have to leave the place she now called home. Van wished he could do something, but he knew that it was for the best that they pack up and leave while they still had they're lives.

When the meeting released, Van and Fiona headed down to their rooms to pack for their trip. Both were silent as they packed, and they each one kept to their own thoughts. It wasn't until Fiona looked around her empty room that she felt the true impact of what was happening. She wanted to cry, but she wanted to be strong for Van and for herself.

So she held back her tears and reassured herself that she would come out of this alright. She sighed and sniffed a little, but she was alright. It was late and they would be leaving in the morning. She collapsed on her bed waiting for sleep but it eluded her.

She lay there for awhile thinking about what had happened that day. Her mind wandered back and forth from the attack to the kiss to the meeting and to her feelings towards Van. 'I love him… but I wonder if he feels the same way about me?' she thought absent mindedly to herself.

She tried to think but she could hear Van in the next room she could hear pacing back and forth. 'He can't sleep either?' she thought. She got out of bed and pulled on some sweat pants and a tee shirt before sneaking over to Van's room.

She knocked on the door and Van yelled to come in. "Can't sleep?" She asked him.

"Yeah, I'm guessing that the same goes for you?" He asked sinking into an armchair.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is… but I just can't sleep." She took a seat on the couch letting the soft leather absorb her. "I guess it's this feeling of being up-rooted again." She muttered.

Van nodded the sensation was failure to both of them. Van though of when he first left the Wind Colony for a life on the road. He had enjoyed it at first but constantly moving around made him feel uncomfortable anymore.

Van looked at Fiona who seemed lost in her memories; he was silent for awhile letting her think. "Is something on your mind?" he asked breaking the silence.

"Not really" she said pausing for a moment "Van?"

"Yes" He could sense some nervousness behind her words.

Fiona paused for a minute she wanted to ask him what his feelings were for her but she coulden't bring herself to say it.

Van sensed her nervousness and took a seat next to her, he wrapped her in his arms and held her. His only thought was to comfort and protect her. "It's alright Fiona, you don't have to talk about it"

They remained like that the rest of the night. Eventually Fiona ended up falling asleep in Vans arms, were she felt safe and at peace. Van never moved from that spot, he held onto Fiona, drifting in the tides of sleep.

************

Out across the deserted flat lands a man in black watched the guardian force's base intently. He stood there draped in his long black cloak; with his eyes never moving. "I will kill that girl; she can't hide from me forever" the man growled.

He turned his back on the base and shouted for his organoid. "Blade you worthless pile of scraps get over here!" The golden organoid slunk into his masters presence his head was lowered and he moved slowly around his master. The man took out a whip and snapped it hitting Blade in the neck leaving a long gash in the underlying soft black metal in his neck.

The organoid roared in pain but did not flee. The man lashed out several times leaving scars in the metal. Breathing heavily the man hissed in a ragged tone "You failed me once, but I'll give you one last chance, follow those two if you notice anything report back to me immediately. Stay low and go unnoticed." The golden organoid bowed and hissed and went to do his masters bidding. "This time she will not escape… I_ will_ make sure she dies" He swore to the fading stars before he jumped into his hidden Helcat and began making his preparations.

**************

Moonbay: Ha I told you Irvine!

Irvine: this isn't over yet Moonbay I'll get you in the end!

The Grunty that goes Beep: … I'm going to stay out of this…

A/N: So as you can see I've updated once more. I plan to start on chapter five this week since I'm on break for now. I'll try to get it out within the next few weeks. Remember to Review! Reviews make me want to write more!


	5. Chapter 5: To the Wind Colony!

**A/N: **I'd like to say thank you to a few people that have really helped me with my work. First off

I'd like to say thanks to my friend Dreaming about Love who has helped me actually think of a straight plot for this story.

I'd also like to give a special thanks to Randomcat who has reviewed on almost every chapter so far. Thanks you rock!

And Thanks to everyone else that reviews my work.

Disclamer: I don't own Zoid's, but I wish I did.

**Chapter 5: To the Wind Colony!**

Van's eyes opened slowly, he had been trying to sleep for the last hour or so but it had proven fruitless. He looked over at the clock that he had left on, it read four thirty. Van groaned he and Fiona had to leave in an hour to depart for the Wind Colony.

Van carefully untangled himself from Fiona's embrace. She grumbled and shifted position before quickly falling back asleep again. Van stretched and looked around his now empty home. A few suitcases sat by the door, but that was all that remained of his once sparsely cluttered apartment.

He plugged in the coffee maker bad temperedly 'being up this early should be illegal' he thought, dumping in water and coffee grounds. He drummed his fingers on the counter before grabbing Fiona's keys, and stepping out into dimly lit hallway.

He turned to the right and unlocked Fiona's door. Her bags like Van's were stacked by the door. He looked around her room before he grabbed her luggage and shut and relocked the door.

When he returned the coffee was done, and the machine was beeping quietly. He took out the pot and grabbed two mugs, and a salt shaker. He looked to see if Fiona was awake but she was still sleeping.

He set the mugs down, and gently shook her into wakefulness. She groaned and rolled over her eyes slowly opened. "Morning," Van said "I brought you some coffee."

Fiona sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Thanks" she mumbled pouring herself a cup of coffee followed by what seemed and endless amount of salt.

Van pulled a disgusted face "Sometimes I wonder how you can drink that."

Fiona sipped on some of her coffee and pulled a wry face. "And I don't see how you can drink that." She pointed at Vans cup and poured in some more salt into her own.

They sat in silence sipping their coffee and looking at the early morning sky, the two moons of Zi were fading. "So we're moving out today." Fiona said, her voice sounded distant. "I seems so unreal."

"I know" said Van taking a quick glance at the clock. They had a half an hour before they had to leave. "We should get going soon" he muttered standing up and heading off to his room. "I hope you don't mind but I brought your bags over"

Fiona gave her thanks to Van as he disappeared into his room. She grabbed one of her bags, and walked into the small bathroom. She quickly showered and changed and stepped out into the living room. Zeke was laying there; he raised his head and growled happily. Fiona smiled and patted the organoids smooth head.

Van walked out of his room a few minutes later. He sighed and looked at Fiona. "Ready to go" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be" She replied slinging a bag over her shoulder and walking over to the door.

Van, Fiona and Zeke walked out of the room taking one last look at their old homes before walking down the hall and into the hanger where the Blade Liger stood ready for their long journey. Herman, Karl, Dr. D and Thomas all awaited them when they walked in. "Good morning Lieutenant Flyhight, Miss. Lynette" Rob Herman greeted them. "I trust you're ready?"

"As ready as well ever be" Van muttered.

"Good" Herman said "Now you know the drill correct? Thomas will go with you until you reach the mountain pass. You can make it there today if you travel without too many stops. You'll travel through the mountains, and the air troupe of Redler's that will give you support should you need it. After that Irvine and Moonbay will be waiting for you to escort you to the Wind Colony. They will be stationed with you for two weeks.

Providing everything goes smoothly they will withdraw from the Wind Colony and you two will live there until we can get things under control and get this maniac caught."

Van and Fiona both nodded they had been over the drill what seemed hundreds perhaps thousands of times. They knew safety and secrecy were top priority in making this work.

"Good luck to the both of you" Herman said stepping aside to let them through.

"Thank you" Fiona said quietly "I'm sure we're going to need it."

They packed their bags and rations in the Blade Ligers compartment, and crammed themselves into the Ligers cockpit. They waved good bye to everyone and began to mobilize. Van piloted the Liger out of the hanger the morning had left a thick layer of fog that would disappear later that day. "I'm glad for all this fog" he muttered "if anyone tries to follow us they'll have a hard time doing it."

"Hey Van" Thomas came in on the radio "Ready to go?"

"Yeah" replied Van picking up the small lights on the Di-Bison. "You ready Zeke?" Van asked, Zeke roared in response from the ligers core. "Then let's mobilize."

The Di-Bison started out at a steady run and Van fell behind it and followed closely. The fog was getting deeper, but Van trusted his piloting skills and Zeke to guide them through.

"Are you alright Fiona?" Van asked, she hadn't said much since they had left the base.

"Yes, I'm fine," She replied, her voice sounded distant and lost.

Van turned back to the controls, he could still see the lights on the di-bison so he turned on the auto pilot "I'm leaving things up to you now Zeke" Zeke roared in approval and took over the controls of the Liger.

Van leaned back, he was exhausted. He hadn't slept very well the previous night due to anxiety.

The fog was swirling over the orange canopy of the Liger in thin ever changing patterns. Van relaxed and let his eyes close "Hey Fiona, wake me up in a few minutes alright" he mumbled.

He thought that he heard Fiona say something before he passed into the realm of sleep.

***********

Van was roughly jerked forward was woken up as the blade liger came to a halt. He looked outside instead of fog they were now standing in a forested area. They were pulled up next to the Di-bison, and Thomas was exiting his Zoid. 'How long was I out' he thought to himself.

Behind him Fiona was waking up as well, "where are we?" She asked looking around.

"I think were at the first stop" Van replied "Let's go out and see what's going on."

Van opened up the canopy and jumped safely to the ground quickly followed by Fiona. Thomas was already on the ground waiting for them. "I'm glad to see your okay" Thomas said as they approached him "I tried radioing you several times, I thought you were lost in the fog"

"We fell asleep" Van admitted sheepishly.

"Are you insane?!" Thomas bellowed "you need to be looking out for the welfare of Miss. Fiona"

"Put a cork in it Thomas" Van muttered "we're tired we didn't expect to be moving on so fast" He was grouchy and didn't feel like putting up with Thomas's antics today.

"It's alright Thomas" Fiona said smoothing things out "We had you and Zeke looking out for us, no harm came to us and that's what matters"

Thomas blushed and stuttered like he usually did when he received a complement from Fiona. Fiona just smiled and took stock of their surroundings. The forest was quiet and peaceful, birds chirped somewhere in the distance. When Thomas got over his embarrassment, Van ventured to ask if this was where they were departing.

Thomas nodded "from here on it will be you to and the guards" he pointed up to the air, "we've got two pilots and zoids stationed every two miles. That is until you meet up with Irvine and Moonbay then you'll be on your own."

"I guess this is good bye then?" Fiona said, there was a sad and distant look in her eyes.

"Yes I suppose it is" Thomas said "Well Van it certainly has been a pleasure working with you" he said. Then quickly added "Sometimes"

Van grinned and shook Thomas's hand "Likewise"

"We'll miss you Thomas" Said Fiona giving the blond zoid pilot a hug "thank you so much for everything." She said with a smile.

Van felt a wave of jealousy steal over him; Fiona was hugging of all people Thomas Shubaltz.

Fiona released the speechless Zoid pilot much to Van's satisfactory and turned to him. "I suppose we should get going Van?"

Van nodded he not only wanted to get away from Thomas but he wanted to make it at least a quarter of the way to the half way mark. "Well I guess this is good bye Thomas" Fiona said "I hope we'll see into you soon"

Thomas nodded his head slowly still trying to tell if Fiona had really hugged him. Fiona smiled as she got back into the blade ligers cockpit. Van jumped in next and got the blade liger mobalized.

As the canopy started to shut, Thomas burst out "Travel safely"

He could have sworn he heard Fiona say 'you too' as he watched the blade liger depart he jumped in the air as a feeling of pure happiness washed over him. "She Hugged Me!" he shouted to the world, disturbing birds and other small creatures.

***********

Ever since they had left Thomas back at the road Fiona had noticed that something was not quite right with Van. He was quiet, and whenever he said anything it was short and to the point. He had snapped at Fiona several times that day and unknowingly upset her.

Since then Fiona kept quiet and to herself, she had no idea what she had done to make Van act this way. She had asked before but he hadn't responded to her. The day had passed quietly, Fiona had napped several times through the day, and was refreshed.

They approached a clearing and Van told Zeke to stop and that they would be resting here tonight. Van popped open the canopy and jumped out of the liger. Fiona followed him and wasn't surprised to see Zeke outside was waiting for them. Van muttered a bad tempered greeting to Zeke before wrenching open the storage compartment and taking what they needed to set up camp.

Zeke growled in curiosity about Van's bad mood, he looked to Fiona and growled.

"I don't know Zeke" he's been like that since we left Thomas at the road. Zeke growled and shook his head.

Fiona pulled out the tent steaks and canvas from the compartment "Want to help me set up the tent Zeke?" She asked.

Zeke nodded enthusiastically and grabbed some of the tent poles and hurried to the clearing. Fiona suppressed a laugh and followed the silver organoid.

They set up camp quickly enough, and by night fall they had a roaring fire going. Van sat hunched over the fire cooking some of their rations. Fiona joined him and not wanting to upset him remained quiet.

Zeke had found out that there were fireflies in the area and was quite content to run around and try to catch them.

When their food was done cooking Van handed Fiona he portion on an extremely flimsy paper plate. She took it cautiously being careful not to spill any on herself. Van ate in silence neither tasting nor enjoying the food that he had made.

Fiona looked around and tried to make conversation "This reminds me of when we first started searching for the Zoid eve. It was just the three of us, until we met Moonbay, and Irvine." Van said something incoherent and continued eating. "Now that I think about it that was almost three years ago."

Van stopped for a minute to conceder what she had said. "Yeah I guess your right" he said, then whent back to eating.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Van made no response, and Fiona had finally had enough "Fine if you won't talk to me then I'm leaving." She put her plate to the side and stood up. "I hope you enjoy the rest of the night" She said storming off into the woods.

Van looked up alarmed, as she disappeared into the shadows. He choked down his food before dashing off to find her. 'The woods are a dangerous place even without that demented maniac running around.'

Van shouted for her but received no response 'Where is she?' he asked himself. There was a rustling in the bushes that caught his attention. "Fiona?" he called apprehensively. The bushes rattled louder, 'she's only trying to scare me' Van thought. "I know it's you Fiona" he said tearing apart the foliage "come on out"

Zeke's head shot up out of the bushes along with several flickering fireflies. Van stumbled back a few paces but quickly recovered himself. Zeke growled in annoyance at losing his firefly collection. "Zeke have you seen Fiona" Van asked, he was getting worried that something may have happened to her.

Zeke nodded his head and growled "can you show me where she is?" Van asked. Zeke seemed to ponder Van's question but eventually he growled and walked off into the forest. 'What was that all about' Van asked himself following Zeke through the woods.

They came to a wide but shallow river, where the moonlight danced off of the rippling water. In the pale light Van saw Fiona sitting on the bank slipping stones. Zeke ran off to sit next to her while Van took his time and walked over. "You had me worried" he said.

When she did not reply he asked "Is something wrong?" once again she didn't respond. Van sighed he was getting frustrated with Fiona but he knew he shouldn't lose his cool. He sat down next to her and watched her for awhile. She chucked another stone at the rushing waters; it skipped a few times before sinking into the rushing current.

Van remembered showing Fiona how to skip stones when they were traveling with Moonbay and Irvine, the two used to try and see how far they could throw them or how many skips they could get. Van smiled as he recalled the old memories, back when then things had been simple.

Fiona looked at Van curiously he looked peaceful and content; she wondered what had brought on the change. Van picked up a few flat rocks and tried skipping a few stones but failed miserably. He pulled a sour face, making Fiona laugh.

"What's so funny?" Van asked.

"It's nothing" she said "I just remember that you always used to be better at this. You always beat me when we had contests."

Van smiled "I've been so busy I never got a chance to relax and take time to do anything like this." He slung another stone at the water and this time it managed a fable skip. "This brings back a lot of memories" He said.

"It sure does," Fiona replied, she watched Van for awhile before asking "Van? What did I do this morning that made you so mad?"

Van felt that same wave of jealousy hit him when he thought about earlier that morning. "it was nothing" He grumbled "I was just tired"

"Van you're a terrible liar" Fiona said, "I know when you're lying"

Van turned away from Fiona, "I just got jealous" he mumbled. "There are you happy?"

"What was that Van?" Fiona asked, "I can't hear you"

Van turned around and spoke up "I said I just got jealous"

"You were jealous?" Fiona asked "About what?"

"You and Thomas" Van muttered

"Van, you know Thomas and I are just friends" Fiona said with a small smile. "There's no need to get jealous about me giving him a hug. So don't worry about it"

Van grumbled a bit and slung a stone earning three skips. "You know Fiona you'd better watch out." He said with a smile "I might just beat you"

"Oh really well we'll see about that" She said skimming a stone about five times. "Beat that" She challenged. Van laughed and skimmed another stone. They skipped stones for an hour or so, laughing and swapping stories about their travels with Moonbay and Irvine. Van laughed "I remember once when Irvine and I read your journal."

"You two did what?" Fiona exclaimed "You read my journal?!"

"Hey, relax Fiona it was all in good fun-" Van begun before Fiona pushed him in the river. "Van sat in the freezing cold water for a minute before starting to laugh. Fiona smiled and held out her hand to help him get up. Van however had different plans. He grabbed Fiona's hand and pulled her down into the water.

She looked at Van and started to laugh along with him. They got up and out of the river and were standing on the bank before Fiona got an evil idea. "Hey Van" she said pointing to the far edge of the bank "What's that?"

Van turned leaving his back exposed "What's what?" He asked before Fiona shoved him sending him into the river again.

"Made you look!" she shouted before running back to camp.

"Why you!" Van yelled quickly getting to his feet and running after Fiona. Memories flooded back to his mind he and Fiona had often done things like this when they were younger. Causing chaos around the campground and irritating Irvine. Thinking about it made Van feel like a kid again. He grinned as he tore into the campground. "I'm going to get you Fiona!" He yelled.

He looked around for her but didn't see her, "Fiona?" He called he started to fear the worst when he didn't hear a reply. He opened the tent flap "Fio-" A wet towel slapped him in the face.

Fiona burst out laughing at the look on Vans face. Van grinned as a idea came to his head, he waited until Fiona had her back turned to him before pouncing on her and tackling her to the ground. Before she had anytime to respond he started to tickle her. "I told you I'd get you back"

He grinned "Say you're sorry Fiona"

She squirmed and tried to get up but Van pinned her down "Say you're sorry Fiona"

"Ne- Never!" she gasped out through her laughter.

"Well then I guess you leave my no choice" His voice was laced with mock pity. He started tickling her stomach making her laugh harder if it was even possible.

"Fine!" She managed to say through a fit of laughter "I give up!"

Van got off of her and grabbed a dry towel "Never mess with the master." He boasted triumphantly.

"Yeah yeah…" Fiona muttered under her breath. "I'll let you get changed into some dry clothes" She opened up the tent flap "I'll go make us some coffee."

"There better not be any salt in it!" Van called after her. He quickly dried off and changed into some dry clothes. He walked outside to see Fiona putting a kettle on the small burner. "You must be cold" He said indicating her wet clothing "Go ahead and change I'll look after the coffee"

"Thanks Van" she said her voice filled with gratitude she was freezing and the night air was dropping rapidly. Van watched her disappear into the tent and went back to looking after the kettle.

It wasn't long before the coffee started to perk Van rummaged through their pack and picked out two mugs, and a salt shaker for Fiona. Pouring two cups of coffee he walked over to the tent "Can I come in?" he asked

"Sure" Fiona replied.

Van pushed aside the flap with his spare hand. "I thought you might like sitting in here where it's warmer." He said handing her a cup, "Here's your salt too" he handed her the small salt shaker

"Thanks Van" she said with a small smile. Van pulled a discussed face as she poured in almost half of the shaker in to her cup.

"I still can't believe that you like that stuff" he muttered "It astounds me that your sodium levels aren't through the roof."

She rolled her eyes and sipped her coffee.

They chatted until late until the night about the past and about their current situation. They would have talked longer but it was late and Zeke had wormed his way into their tent and between them.

Fiona smiled and patted the organoids smooth plated face. "Good night Zeke, Good night Van" She said sleepily before wrapping herself in her sleeping bag.

Van said his good nights and Zeke growled happily. Van and Fiona fell asleep in a matter of minutes but Zeke kept watch over his friends.

*************

The next morning brought dark clouds and the trembling of distant thunder. After concocting a fast meal they wasted no time in breaking camp. As soon as they finished packing up the tent it started raining. Van cursed under his breath and ran to collect the few things they had left out.

Fifteen minutes later they scrambled into the Blade Liger and headed out of the clearing. They made good timing that day, considering the bleak conditions. Over head heavy sleeting rain showered the forest.

Once and awhile one of the pilots of the Redler's would ask how they were coping with the weather, Van would radio them their status, and their location and log off leaving them in silence. They stopped around noon and took a break. They were forced to take shelter under the Blade Liger because of the freezing rain.

The Redlers were also forced to land; lightning was erupting in the sky causing interference with their zoids. Fiona invited them for a hastily prepared lunch. The pilots accepted greatly and dug into the food with gusto.

One of them mentioned the interference with the Zoids, "I'm afraid that we'll have to stop here and wait out the storm" he said "The storm is to powerful, if we keep this up the Redlers will be reduced to nothing."

"We can't stop here" Van said taking a moment to consider the possibilities. "I want to make it to the halfway point by tonight if I can." he looked to the distant hills. "We'll take the Blade Liger ahead as far as we can."

"Sir I'm afraid we can't let you do that" One of the pilots spoke up "We have direct orders from our superiors."

Van rubbed his head; he feared that something like this would come up. "Look if any one's following us, they certainly won't be attacking from the sky." He said pointing to the ever darkening purple and black clouds.

Van and the pilots got into a heated discussion before it was quickly ended by Zeke who slammed one of the ligers front feet in between the two. And growled menacingly, it was clear to everyone that Van and Fiona were going to continue.

Van and Fiona agreed to check in with the two regularly until they reached the halfway mark. k

They left the pilots looking disappointed that they couldn't continue their job but Van reassured them that they would be just fine.

They moved out once more churning up soggy dead foliage and mud under the ligers feet. The rain continued on through the day and up into the night. Van stopped the liger for a while, to let it rest. They ran out into the rain once again and underneath the ligers underbelly.

They made a cold meal of some sandwiches left over from lunch and some papayas that Van had snuck on board before the day they left. Van frowned "I think we should keep going through the night." He said. "We're not too far from the halfway point." He rubbed his blood shot eyes.

"Van do you want me to pilot the liger for awhile?" Fiona asked "That way you can get some sleep."

Van considered it and decided that they could take turns piloting the liger through the night. They would take two to three hour shifts and switch positions. Fiona would take the first shift then Van then Zeke and then back to Fiona. They piled into the blade liger once again and took off through the woods.

Lightning flashed out through the air quickly followed by the roar of thunder. Fiona shuddered at the control panel, she had always hated storms. She didn't really have a reason for why she hated storms, but she figured that she didn't really have to have a reason.

She pushed on the boosters a bit as she cleared a hill, and then stopped. Something didn't feel right, she didn't know what it was but something was wrong. Zeke growled quietly, "do you feel it to Zeke?" She asked quietly not wanting to wake Van.

Zeke growled again, and moved restlessly. Fiona griped the controls again she was shaking but she didn't seem to notice. She pushed the liger into a slow run while keeping a eye out for any dangers.

The night dragged on slowly but by early morning they were within an hour's reach of their destination. Van looked back at a sleeping Fiona debating on whether or not to wake her up. He decided to let her sleep and pushed the liger onward.

************

Irvine was woken up by the sound of a quickly approaching zoid, after throwing on a shirt he hauled himself out of his tent to see what all the commotion was about. He was surprised to see the Blade liger pulling into camp next to his Lightning Saix.

"Hey Moonbay, get up!" He yelled "Van and Fiona are here"

Moonbay poked her head out of her tent. "They're here already?" she mumbled only half awake. "Why are they here so early?" she groaned "the suns not even up."

"Beats me" he replied sauntering over to the liger.

Van and Fiona emerged from the liger a few minutes after they had stopped. Both of them looked tired and a bit scruffy. "Hey Irvine, hey Moonbay" Van said jumping out of the cockpit and into the mud.

"Hey you two" Irvine replied "Why are you guys here so early? We thought you'd be here tomorrow."

"We ran through the storm and through the night, we haven't taken a rest since last night." Van muttered stretching his back with an audible pop. Fiona jumped down along side of Van, as Moonbay exited her tent.

"I thought there were supposed to be some pilots with you." Moonbay said looking around "Where are they"

"The pilot guard's that were assigned to protect us couldn't keep up in the storm." Fiona said "We thought it would be best if we continued through the storm. That way we would be hidden."

"Good Idea" Irvine said "Chances are that we can make it to the Wind Colony in a day and a half."

"I hate to ask but I don't suppose you've got any coffee?" Van asked stiffiling a yawn. "It's been a long night"

"I'll go put some on" Moonbay said disappearing into her tent. Van, Fiona and Irvine followed and crammed themselves into the small tent. They sat around trading information and trying to keep warm. Both Fiona and Van nodded off from time to time but they kept themselves awake.

They debated on moving on, Van and Fiona were all for it. But Irvine and Moonbay were concerned about how tired the two were. They agreed to move on, since Van and Fiona wanted to get to the Wind Colony.

Irvine took off in his Saix, and the blade liger took off following closely behind. The day went by slowly. Irvine and Van talked over the radio and Fiona slept most of that day. However her sleep was disturbed by visions of her hooded attacker, and the golden organoid.

When they made a stop she dug out some of her medication that helped her sleep and kept the nightmares away. Moonbay looked at her friend, Fiona looked troubled and lost. Moonbay was concerned but she didn't want to say anything to offend her.

The day passed uneventfully, the rain eventually let up, giving them a welcome glimpse of the sun. They traveled on into the afternoon and into the early night. When the sun started disappearing over the horizon they decided to pitch camp.

They found a clearing by the side of the river, and pitched they're camp. Moonbay and Fiona started dinner, while Van and Irvine set up the tents. "This certainly brings back memories. Eh Fiona?"

Fiona gave her a small tired smile "It sure does."

"Fiona?" Moonbay asked cautiously "Are you alright? You just seem a little out of it and I just want to make sure your okay."

"I'm alright" Fiona said "I guess I'm just tired and a bit unstable since the attack and now being uprooted this fast."

Moonbay patted Fiona on the back. "Well try to stay strong" she said trying to comfort her "Remember if you ever need someone to talk to you can always talk to me, Van or Irvine."

Fiona gave Moonbay a small smile of gratitude "Thank you Moonbay"

That night the four sat around the campfire, Zeke was sleeping on the ground curled up in a tight circle. The late summer crickets chirped rhythmically, the fire sapped and popped at odd intervals. They chatted a bit before Van and Fiona went to sleep.

Moonbay and Irvine stayed up to keep watch. The night was peaceful and surprisingly warm. The silver stars were bright in the night sky, and cast a soft glow over the campsite.

As the night grew longer Moonbay and Irvine could feel their eyelids drooping, eventually both of them passed on into the realm of dreams.

************

The next morning brought on a bright and promising new day. Everyone was fully rested and ready to hit the road once more. They moved out in the same order as they had the previous day. Irvine took the lead in his Siax and Van followed him in the Liger.

This time seek followed on foot, the silver organoid seemed more than happy to leap about and chase bugs, and other small creatures that he could see. They figured that it would take them about three hours to reach Wind Colony.

Van was eager to see his home once again and he wanted to surprise his sister with an early visit. They took it slow until they were out of the forested area and out onto the desert flatlands.

"I never cared too much for the desert" Irvine muttered over the radio. "The sand always slows down my zoid"

"That's because you don't know how to pilot it properly in the sand" Van scoffed at Irvine. "you just have to use it to your advantage… Like this." Van threw the liger into a swift run ad shot up a cloud of sand right into Irvine's vision/

"Why you!" Irvine yelled and threw his Lightning Saix into a swift lope, "Your going pay for that Van!"

Van roared with laughter and kicked up more sand using the Liger's boosters. Off of the side lines Zeke watched with mild amusement as the Saix and Liger played around in the sand.

The silver organoid let out a small chuckle, he was happy that Van was having a good time.

They eventually stopped after the desert heat started to get to the Zoids. The group decided to take a small break and let the zoids cool off before making the final dash to the Wind Colony.

Zeke joined them and occupied himself in watching a small mouse running back and forth between its burrow and a small crop of flowers.

When the Zoids has cooled down enough they decided to move on once again. As they proceeded through desert Van started to recognize some of the landmarks he had used as a kid when out part hunting.

To the west was a small green oasis, and to the north the ruins where he had found Zeke and Fiona. He smiled slightly at the memories that the ruins held for him.

Van faintly heard Zeke roar from the ground, Van looked into the distance but he couldn't distinguish anything unusual. "I wonder what's wrong?" he muttered to no one in particular.

Irvine's voice crackled over the radio "Van up ahead" he said "I see some Zoids and some pilots, from the looks of it they're bandits." Irvine sent the information over to the Liger.

Van analyzed it and concluded what they already suspected; several storage convoys were lying next to a Gustave, and several Rev Raptors.

"How much do you want to bet that they're transporting weapons or explosives?" Van asked Irvine.

"I'd bet the Saix on it" he muttered "What should we do?"

"Let's take them out" Van said checking the energy levels on the Blade Liger. The levels were good, and he had Zeke to help him out if things got to rough. "We can hand them into Guardian Force HQ when we get to the Wind Colony."

"Sounds like a plan to me" Irvine said, a grin was slowly spreading over his face. "Let's go!" he roared making a dash for the bandits camp.

"Save some for me!" Van shouted as he threw the liger into a fast run.

They had planned on making a sneak attack however the bandits must have seen them coming. Several of them had started up their Zoids and were charging at Van and Irvine.

Irvine took out the first Rev Raptor that crossed the dune with a shot from his cannon. Three others appeared from the camp,

Van grinned and deployed his blades; he took out two of the raptors with a charge and destroyed the third one by taking off its hind leg.

"Van" Fiona said from the back "The Gustav is getting away!"

Van looked to the right; sure enough the Gustave had taken off in the opposite direction. The last two Raptors flanked the cargo carriers, defending the supplies.

"I'll take care of this" Irvine said. He shot down the two Raptors with the Saix's cannon however the Gustaves armor proved too hard to shoot through. "Looks like it's all up to you Van." Irvine said.

"Alright here I go" Van used the boosters to gain enough speed, when he was close enough he shot at the Gustave a few times. When it didn't stop he was forced to hit it with his blades. He cut through the main engine easily enough and stopped the transporter dead in its tracks.

Van jumped out of the Zoid and ordered for the pilot to get out of the Zoid. Thankfully the bandits gave them no resistance and they were easily captured, and restrained.

Let's see what these guys are carrying" Irvine said grabbing a crow bar off of the back of one of the cargo carriers. He hefted up the back door, in the dim light he could see boxes stacked up and covered in tarps.

However one of the crates had toppled over reveling heavy explosives, and several guns. "Jack pot" Irvine muttered. He threw the crowbar over to Van. "Go and see what's in the next carrier."

Van nodded and jammed the crowbar under the next door. It was slightly rusted, but gave away easily enough. The second cargo space was almost empty, there were a few guns scattered around but nothing to serious.

Van was just about to slam the cargo door shut when something caught his eye. He moved a few boxes and was surprised to see a large bulging sack. Van ran his hands over it and felt the contours, he quickly cut the sack open with his knife and was astounded to see an unconscious lying there man bound and gagged.

Van inspected the man, in the dim light he couldn't make much out, the man had mid-length hair, and was quite pale. His clothes were worn, and shredded, and dark bruises covered his body. 'I wonder who he is and what they want with him?' Van asked himself, 'whoever he is I can just leave him here.'

Van cut the ropes that bound the man and hefted the man over his back and brought him outside.

Once outside Irvine approached him, "Who's he?"

"I don't know." Van said, propping the man up against the carrier "I found him inside the carrier, he was bound and tied."

Irvine looked the man over "He's probably just a civilian that ran into some trouble with those bandits. Chances are they didn't want him getting away, and kept him hostage."

Van nodded in agreement, he had seen similar situations while on assignments for the Guardian Force. Moonbay and Fiona came running up from the Liger and Saix. "What's up?" Moonbay asked.

"Illegal weapons and ammo" Irvine replied "probably stole the zoids as well" he said inspecting the wrecked Gustave. "Look at this," he said throwing some papers to Van.

"Looks like it was stolen from a Republican Base" He said flipping through papers and registration numbers "I'll call Herman when we get to the Wind Colony, he can confirm everything and get them sent off to a base for questioning"

"Sounds like a good idea" Irvine muttered "Only one problem how do we get them back to the Wind Colony? We can't take them back with that wreck of a Gustave."

"Chances are that there's a truck around here," Moonbay said walking around the camp ad disappearing over a dune.

A sudden thought hit Van he looked around in a slight panic "Hey who's watching the captives?" He asked quickly. The last thing that he wanted to do was chase them over the desert.

"Don't worry about them." Fiona said "We tied them up and Zeke's watching them." She spotted the man that Van had hauled out of the carrier. "Who's he?" She asked.

"I don't know I found him in there" he pointed at the carrier. "He's probably just a civilian that stumbled across their camp. We'll take him with us and get him some medical attention."

"Hey guys! There's a truck over here." Moonbays voice came up from over the dunes.

"Bring it over and let's get these guys packed up and let's get out of here" Irvine shouted back. There was a faint rumble and then a roar as the truck sprung to life.

Moonbay appeared over the dune a few minutes later in a faded dusty tan truck. "let's get a move on I don't want to be stuck out here all day," She muttered slightly irritated, she was tired and wanted to sleep.

They marched the bandits into the back of the truck, and sat them in back

Zeke looked over the unconscious man, he sniffed him and glared. Zeke backed away cautiously, he glared at the man and went back to the liger. "That was odd" Van muttered "What's gotten in to him?"

"Who knows" Fiona said, Zeke seemed highly disturbed about something

They crested the last hill and were greeted with the sight of the Wind colony nestled in the small valley. "We're home" Van said with a small tired smile, "It's good to be back."

Fiona nodded and "I hope we can get settled in soon,"

Van pushed the controls on the liger forward "Same here," He pushed the liger in to a slow lope "Herman said that they've set aside a place for us to stay until this whole thing blows over."

He brought the liger to a halt a few yards away from the front gate. He could see a some of the people on the streets looking up at the blade liger and the saix. A couple kids ventured close to the Zoids staring up at the giant creatures.

Van opened up the liger's cockpit, sending up a small, thin cloud of steam. Van jumped out of the liger his feet hitting the soft sand of his homeland. Zeke and Fiona were the next two that jumped out, followed by Moonbay and Irvine.

"So this is the Wind Colony?" Irvine asked looking around the small village. "I thought it would be bigger."

"Nope" Van said "This is it." He looked around fondly, memories slowly came back. "Let's go see Maria," he suggested.

"What about them?" Moonbay pointed to the captives.

"I'll stay here and take care of 'em" Muttered Irvine, "go ahead, when you come back we can find a place to dispose of them."

"Alright" Van said "Thanks Irvine, We'll be back as soon as possible." He ran off twords his house with Fiona and Zeke following closely behind him.

Irvine turned to Moobay "You're not going with them?" he asked slightly curious.

"I'll stay here and rest awhile, besides someone needs to watch the zoids" She replied stretching out and leaning up against the ligers gleaming yellow claws.

Irvine nodded and looked off into the sleepy little town.

*************

Van Fiona and Zeke arrived at Maria's house within five to ten minutes. Van put his ear to the door,

"Van?" Fiona asked "What on Zi are you doing?"

"Shuush" He hissed, going back and listening to the door. He waited a few minutes before a rather wicked grin spread across his face. He twisted the doorknob and slid the door open as quietly as he could before tiptoeing into the front hall way and slipping off his shoes.

Fiona and Zeke looked at Van seeking around the house before looking each other in slight confusion and deciding to wait outside.

Van snuck around the corners before coming up on his sisters sewing and weaving room. She spotted her deep in concentration over her work.

Carfully he tiptoed up behind her, careful not to disturb her, when he got within a few feet of her he quickly threw his hands over her eyes. "Guess who!" He exclaimed with a grin.

"Van?" Maria asked, confusion and surprise "What are you doing here? The officer told me it would take you a week to get here."

Van grinned a bit; "We crossed the mountains with some time to spare. We thought it would be best that we try to get here as fast as possible. Fiona and Zeke are outside, and Moonbay and Irvine are watching the Liger, and Saix." He said.

Maria got up and stretched," Let's go and say hello, I haven't seen anyone in such a long time."

They exited the house, and walked out into the bright afternoon sun. Fiona and Zeke were waiting for them.

Maria hugged Fiona, "how have you been?" she asked "I haven't seen you in such a long time. How was your trip up here?"

Fiona smiled a bit "I could be better, but I'm alright" she said.

"We can talk later" Van said "Let's go get Irvine, and Moonbay"

As they walked through the town, many people stopped to welcome Van back home.

By the time they got back to the Liger and Saix, a large crowd of people had gathered around to admire the zoids. Van inwardly groaned, it would take forever to get through a crowd like this. Van turned to Fiona"I don't suppose we could use Zeke as a battering ram?"

Fiona smiled, "I suppose we could ask him." She said "Although I don't think the three of us would be able to lift him up."

Van chuckled a bit, before turning to Zeke. "How about it buddy? Want to act as our ground control?"

Zeke growled, and got in front of them. He started pushing through the crowd, and eventually they got to the Liger and Saix.

Irvine and Moonbay were desperately trying to fend off a hoard of children from climbing all over the zoids. Van and Fiona desperately tried to hide their laughter. "Having trouble?" Van shouted over the clamor of the crowd.

"Get these kids off of my Zoid" Irvine shouted back at him, his voice full of outrage.

Maria got things under control, she sent the children back to their parents, and helped to disperse the crowd.

"Thanks sis" Van said

Irvine grumbled something incoherent as jumped off of the Saix's front paw. "What took you so long." He muttered bad temperedly.

"I wasn't gone that long" Van muttered.

"Yeah right." He grumbled "So what now."

"Well lets go back to the house, and report in to Herman, and Shubaltz." Van climbed into the Liger followed by Fiona. "We'll see you there."

"Hold on a sec!" Moonbay shouted pulling the truck over by the Liger, "What should we do with them?" She asked pointing to the bandits in the back of the truck.

"We'll drop them off at the prison until further notice." He said pointing to a large slightly decaying but well taken care of building. "Tell the officer about them, and he'll hold them for now. When you're done there join us back at the house."

Van shut the canopy and mobilized the liger into a slow walk, Irvine followed him in the saix and they disappeared over the dunes. Leaving Maria, and Moonbay behind.

Maria gave a small smile and shook her head. "Men"

Maria and Moonbay ended up taking the prisoners to the local jail. The officer in charge for that afternoon handled things for them and told them that he would handle the unconscious man for the time being and said that he would call should the man recover.

They thanked him and left and headed back for the house. When they arrived at the house, the Saix and the Liger stood next to the house, covered in large tarps to keep the sand off of them. Van, Irvine, Fiona, and Zeke were sitting out in the shade of the porch, with a pitcher of ice cold water.

"Looks like you got everything squared away." Irvine said as the two women approached the porch.

"Yeah, the officer at the station told us he'd hang on to them, and that he would check the back ground on them." Moonbay replied taking a seat in the cool shade.

"What about the guy we found in the back of the cargo container?" Van asked.

"We left him at the station; he'll be treated and taken care of until he wakes up." Maria said taking a seat next to her brother.

Van nodded and poured himself another glass of water.

They sat and talked for the rest of the day, Van and Fiona explained their situation and told Maria, about their short journey to the Wind Colony. She told them about the daily life in the Wind Colony, who had moved or passed on, and other bits of information.

The evening crept quietly upon the land, the shadows of the houses lengthened, and mothers could be heard calling their children in for dinner. The dessert heat that had been so merciless throughout the day was now dissipating only to be replaced by the cool evening air.

Fireflies drifted lazily around the small tufts of grass surrounding the house. Zeke was asleep on the front porch, his tail twitched every once and awhile but other than that he was still.

Van, Fiona, and the others were sitting inside, drinking, and talking the night away.

Maria told Van and Fiona about the house that the Guardian Force had set aside for them. They could see if from the front porch, it was perched up on a small hill overlooking the Colony. It was small, but well taken care of.

They decided that they would move in the following morning. However the only thing that they wanted to do now was to call it a night and get some shut eye.

As Van lay in his room that night he couldn't help but notice how calm he felt. He allowed himself to relax, and to drifted off into a deep sleepless slumber.

He was finally home.

****************

IT'S DONE!

In all honesty I never thought that I'd finish this chapter, it took me ages to think of an ending that I thought would fit. Bleh… I'm sorry that this chapter seems a bit rushed but I'm happy that it's done. .

Chapters 6 and 7 are going to be out as soon as I find the time to type them and edit them. I promise the action will start picking up so keep reading and reviewing!


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